These magazines had their first issue published, at most, about a year ago. A few have yet to publish their first issue.
They publish fiction, creative nonfiction, and poetry. They are a mix of literary and genre magazines, and some of them pay writers.
Many, but not all, are open for submissions now.
Please remember, especially with new magazines, guidelines / submission periods could change, so do review these carefully before submitting.
Also see this list of exciting new magazines by Emily Harstone, published earlier this year.
Your Sudden Flash
“We are looking for original fiction and nonfiction of 600 words or less, and will also consider much shorter microfiction including dribbles (50 words) and drabbles (100 words) – or stories that fall somewhere in between.” They also accept reprints. Submissions are accepted on an ongoing basis, and they accept some reprints (see guidelines). They publish every Wednesday. They started publishing in April 2025. Details here.
Notch Magazine
“Notch is a literary and arts magazine based in New York and Paris. Notch publishes biannually in print and online.” Their first issue appeared in November 2024. They’re currently accepting submissions for their third issue, on the Currents theme, and the deadline is 7th July 2025. “We accept all mediums–from operatic scores to tattoos to sonnets.” They also accept visual and sonic work. Writers will be compensated. Details here.
Merganser Magazine
They want work from writers “whose work transcends disciplines and genres.” They want fiction, nonfiction, and poetry. And, “No word limits or hard editorial guidelines; we’re eager to find strong pieces across a wide range of material.” Please note, anything longer than 2,000 words will likely be a hard sell. They pay $0.08/word for prose, $1/line for poetry. They debuted in Winter 2024. Details here.
January House
“January House is a meeting place for diverse expressions, urgent conversations, and the ever-evolving landscapes of contemporary literature and art. We invite you to join us in shaping a publication that honors both craft and curiosity, rooted in a belief that storytelling, in all its forms, matters.” They publish fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and art. They read submissions year-round. Details here.
Tractor Beam
This magazine published its first issue in Spring 2025. They publish soilpunk stories, pieces that present an optimistic view of the earth. They are reading submissions for Issue 3: “For our upcoming issues, we’re specifically seeking stories celebrating decay and rot, ice and snow (the frozen earth), the ocean and soil under water, fashion and style, soil as tech, soil as the origin of life and anti-apocalyptic futures. Literal or abstract, near term or on distant horizons: worlds can take inspiration from innovations or alternative practices in earth and material science, regenerative agriculture, food, microbiology, and more.” They want stories up to 6,000 words, graphic novellas at 16 panels, or multimedia. They pay $1,000. The deadline is 21st July 2025. Submission is via a form on the website. Details here.
Lunchbreak Review
Their first issue will be published in the Fall of 2025. Their About page says, “Lunchbreak seeks to promote the valuable connections that are formed in the most likely of places – which are often the most overlooked. You meet a man, the cashier at your Ohio grocery store, who tells you his story of falling off a mountain in Colorado. You meet a woman while shopping for coffee mugs in a Texas antique store whose sons attended your college in Vermont. You are named for a hiker your parents met while backpacking the Appalachian Trail. We look for writing and artwork with a vision of intimacy, promoting the ordinary in order to highlight the remarkable.” They want poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction, essays, and visual art. The reading period for their first issue is closed; but you can read work published on the website to get a sense of what they like. Details here.
Dirty Magick Magazine
They publish fiction – urban fantasy, sword and sorcery (not high fantasy), as well as gothic and supernatural horror. Please read their guidelines to see how they define these genres, and also see the sub-genres they are interested in. Their first issue was launched in September 2024. They pay $50 for stories of 2,000-12,500 words. The deadline is 30 June 2025. Details here.
Mouthful of Salt
Their About page says, “We are a literary journal dedicated to publishing BIPOC, LGBTQIA+, an neurodiverse writers whose voices challenge conventions and refuse containment.” For their inaugural issue (to be published August 2025), they want submissions from BIPOC writers only. They accept fiction, creative nonfiction, and poetry; details here. They are also looking for submissions for their website (Granules), which are accepted on an ongoing basis.
Prudence Dispatch
They publish poetry; send up to 3 poems. “We prefer shorter poems (that will fit on a single page) and poems that connect nature to the human experience.” Do not submit more than once per calendar year. They have yet to publish their first issue. Details here.
Tenebrous Press: Skull & Laurel
The Skull and Laurel is a quarterly magazine of New Weird short fiction by Tenebrous Press; their first issue was published in October 2024. They publish Weird Horror, Dark Fantasy, and Dark Science Fiction, as well as poetry. They also accept translations and reprints. The press publishes works of other lengths, too (novels, novellas, and novelettes), which have different submission windows. Pay is $0.03/word for original short fiction of 100-4,499 words. They accept submissions via Google forms during their open reading periods, and usually announce open reading periods on their blog. Details here.
Soul Poetry, Prose & Arts Magazine
They accept poetry, fiction, flash fiction, micro fiction, nonfiction, creative nonfiction, and art (photographs, paintings, drawings, and mixed art). “What I’m looking for: beautiful, lyrical language that has wide appeal to people of all reading interests and levels. Unusual similes and metaphors (avoid clichés at all costs). Down-to-earth themes that are relatable and understandable. Words that appeal to the senses–things that can be seen, touched, tasted, heard, and smelled. Haunting images. Clever plots! Unexpected twists. Characters that stay with me long after I’ve put aside the pages. Things that connect us, as human beings, to each other.” Their first issue was published in March 2025. They have ongoing submissions, with cut-off dates for issues. Details here.
Splinter Journal
This Australian journal, from Writers SA, accepts works from around the world. They have detailed guidelines, including, “We are always looking for writing that picks apart all the ways reality has been shattered, illuminates the shining threads of it that remain unbroken, and hints at the ways we’ll start putting it all back together.” They accept submissions of fiction, memoir, and poetry. They only accept pitches (not completed submissions) of essays, writing about writing, criticism, and profiles. They accept up to 4 poems; no limits for fiction (see guidelines). They pay AUD900 for fiction, essays, and profiles, AUD700 for criticism, AUD600 for memoir, AUD500 for writing about writing, AUD250/poem or AUD450/collection of up to 4 poems. Their first issue was published in November 2024; watch for their next reading period. Details here and here.
Patina
Their About page says, “Patina documents the evolution of cultural practices, exploring how traditions transform to stay alive. We believe that preservation and adaptation aren’t opposing forces—they’re part of the same survival story. Through careful documentation and storytelling, we track how communities maintain their essential character while responding to changing circumstances. Our quarterly themed volumes combine personal narratives with reportage, and build both an archive and a methodology for documenting cultural evolution in real time.” You can read their first volume, published June 2025, here. They will issue a submission call in July 2025. Details here.
Jade & Compass
They debuted in Spring 2024. They’re reading for their second issue and the theme is True North. “For this theme, we want a humanized yet nonhuman narrative: give us your work that blinds us and binds us, turns rivers into veins and thunder into circuitry. Build us a blueprint that cartographs the way to your True North.” Send prose up to 1,500 words, or poetry up to 5 pages. The deadline is 29th July 2025. Details here.
Goblins & Galaxies
This magazine, established in 2025, has a brief reading period annually, which has passed. They want sword & sorcery, dark fantasy, and science fiction stories. They accept artwork year-round. They pay $0.06/word for stories up to 6,000 words. Details here.
The Glass Post
They accept creative letters and poetry. They accept work by Submittable only. Details here.
Death Kit
This London-based digital and print magazine publishes fiction, essays, and 1-2 poems per issue, as well. For fiction, they say, “we want the uncertain, the tensile, the weird. death kit is unplotted.” Book and film reviews are unpaid. They pay £50 for stories, £25 for essays and poems. Watch for their next submission period. They have published one issue, so far. Details here.
Broad Ripple Review
They want literary fiction (including flash) and creative nonfiction (including memoir, lyric essay, and narrative nonfiction), up to 4,000 words. “We are drawn to voices that are confident without being showy, inventive without losing clarity, and emotionally complex without sentimentality. Whether traditional or experimental, each piece should reflect serious attention to craft and leave a lasting emotional or intellectual impression.” And, “we are not the home for genre fiction, speculative work, or horror unless those elements are secondary to the language and interior concerns of the piece.” They are reading submissions for their first issue, to be launched in Fall 2025. They will award $200 each to one piece of fiction and one of nonfiction, and all submissions to the magazine will be considered for this prize. The deadline is 31 July 2025. Details here and here.
Plott Hound Magazine
This is an e-zine for speculative fiction starring animals. They pay $0.08/word for fiction of 1,000-4,000 words, $100 for nonfiction, and $50 for poetry. Their detailed guidelines are here and open submission periods for 2025 are here. Their next submission period is 1st to 15th September 2025; work sent outside of the reading period will be deleted unread.
Bottle Rocket
“Bottle Rocket is a literary magazine publishing works of prose under 700 words. Like the magazine’s name suggests we are looking for work that soars before bursting into wild sounds and colors. Short prose that dazzles and leaves an impression long after it has been read.
There are no hard and steadfast guidelines here other than that the work should be original, previously unpublished and skew literary.” Details here.
Starspun
This magazine publishes fantasy stories for children, middle graders, young adults. “Stories must be fantasy (adventure, sword and sorcery, literary, high, etc.) and set in a different world. We do not accept urban fantasy. Dark fantasy is welcome but a hard sell.” They also welcome submissions from writers under the age of 18. Send works of up to 6,000 words. Details here.
Inglenook
They’ve had a blog/library for some time and started a literary magazine in 2025. They accept creative nonfiction, as well as speculative fiction & magical realism for their magazine – “Amaze and enchant us with a modern myth, fairy tale, or ghost story. Dazzle us with magical realism that flips modern, “normal” life on its head for the purpose of reflection, wonderment, or escapism (but not high fantasy).” Send prose of 250-3,500 words. And, “We can’t pay for creative work (yet), but can compensate for book reviews, interviews, newsworthy pieces, or op-eds. (Pitch us!)” Details here.
Quills & Tales
This is an online fantasy magazine for emerging writers, and they plan to debut in July 2025. They accept most flavors of fantasy, including dark fantasy, fairytale retellings, sword & sorcery, weird, whimsical, or lyrical tales, and light horror or gothic elements. They accept flash (500-1,000 words) and short fiction (2,000-5,000 words). Also, according to their guidelines (which you can download from the submission form), they can take slightly longer stories, but pay will be capped at 5,000 words. They pay €0.01/word. Details here, here, and here.
Phano
This is a magazine of science and literary fiction. They want stories that provoke a sense of wonder, touch an emotional core, center on well-developed characters, take tasteful, calculated risks, and more. They also accept essays, and have detailed guidelines about the kind of work they want. They do not want fantasy stories, or poetry. They pay $0.02/word for works of 1,000-5,000 words. And, “We pay for reviews, interviews and art as work-for-hire.” Their first issue was published in January 2025. Details here and here.
Panelle
They are reading submissions for their first issue, to be released in the Fall. They accept fiction, nonfiction, poetry, translations, reviews, and images. Send up to 7,500 words of creative prose or up to 5 pages of poetry. They’ve put together Issue 0, to showcase the kind of work they’re looking for. Details here.
S. Kalekar is the pseudonym of a regular contributor to this magazine. She can be reached here.
